Next installment in carnage-driven racing game sees buggies, big rigs, cycles, and more racing through an earthquake-ruined metropolis in customized vehicles, game modes.

There's another MotorStorm on the horizon. Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced MotorStorm Apocalypse will arrive on the PlayStation 3 sometime next year.

The guy on foot has about zero chance of winning this race.

As the name might suggest, Apocalypse is a bit of a detour for the franchise. Where previous installments of the series were almost a world tour of exotic and eye-catching natural environments, the next MotorStorm will be set in an earthquake-ravaged metropolis inspired by the US Pacific coast, specifically the San Francisco Bay Area. Not only will the races take place in the aftermath of a massive tremor, but they will also be interrupted by aftershocks that change the landscape and shift routes on the fly.

That's not the only change in store for the series. Developer Evolution Studios is also adding a single-player story mode that lets gamers experience a narrative unfolding from the eyes of three characters that represent the game's different difficulty levels. The team is also adding five new vehicle classes, 40 distinct races, and a four-player split-screen that's compatible with the online modes for up to 16 players. Finally, Apocalypse will feature customizable vehicles and a game mode creator so players can put their own stamp on the action.

I was quite interested in the Motorstorm series, but never enough to cave into buying any of their products. This one definitely has my attention. With 4-player split-screen and evolving tracks, this may very well be the one that pulls me in on the franchise.

These are pretty exiting news considering the direction the series has been taken. As a driving series, Motorstorm stands alone with its rich and textured environments... The first installment prided on the quality of the landscape and the specifics of each race/route. Though there were only 7 tracks, the diversity of each provided for various driving alternatives that made each track an adventure for the first 60% of the game. The Arctic games developed for the PS2/PSP lacked some of the tough AI (which many have complained about while I have really appreciated for its excellent educational abilities), and Pacific Rift went prettier, more diverse and much better on the improvements of the series as a whole. Hopefully Evolution will find something new to add to the formula, other than the landscapes, to keep our hands full while we play GT5 (if it launches this year).

Hidden_Ace: Where are you getting this information from? I'm not accusing this game of copying Split/Second, but you're talking like someone who knows firsthand what the developers have been working on.
I think this looks pretty cool, but Apocalypse? Really? They could have chosen a different setting that has not already become so saturated in the videogame world. Still, I am looking forward to this. Hopefully it will come with more maps than past MotorStorm titles.

@lamprey263 Before another person says that its copying Split/Second, i thought i'd just say that the developers of this started makng this game before the release of Motorstorm Pacific Rift (looooooooong before Split/Second came out) besides that, Motorstorm is a pretty unique game (you'll know what i mean if you've played Motorstorm before).

This is great! Motorstorm Pacific Rift is one of the best arcade racers of all time. Ignore the sites that gave it lower than expected reviews, that game was crazy. Really looking forward to this new one.

The last Motorstorm didn't get the rave reviews we all we hoping. Hopefully this game will be better. 4 Player Split Screen is nice, but I'm wonder if that will degrade the graphics and sound much. 16 player online mode should be very cool.